Obaseki seeks proactive engagement to check tobacco consumption

Edo State Governor, Mr. Godwin Obaseki, has called for synergy and partnerships among relevant stakeholders to check the consumption and reduce the health and other associated risks, especially cardiovascular diseases.

The governor said this in commemoration of the World No Tobacco Day marked by the World Health Organisation (WHO) and other organs to raise awareness and check the consumption of tobacco.

The governor proposed that collaborations should be built among health workers, civil society organisations and relevant Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs) to raise awareness and sensitise the people on the dangers of tobacco consumption.

“Much as tobacco companies are in legitimate business and have adopted health messaging to call attention to the associated risks of use of their products. As a government, we want to ensure that the people are better served with information on the cardiovascular dangers associated with its usage. Efforts should be made to sensitise people on the dangers of second-hand smoking, which also exposes people to similar dangers faced by active smokers.”

He said the state government is pursing health policies such as the state-wide health insurance scheme, increasing the number of primary healthcare centers and improving the investment climate to attract investors, including private healthcare firms.

He said that this year’s theme for the day, ‘Tobacco and Heart Disease,’ provides a platform to interrogate the implications of tobacco use and cardiovascular conditions, noting that stakeholders are being mobilised to spread the word on the dangers of tobacco consumption and the imperative to reduce its use.

According to the World Health Organisation, “World No Tobacco Day 2018 will focus on the impact tobacco has on the cardiovascular health of people worldwide. Tobacco use is an important risk factor for the development of coronary heart disease, stroke, and peripheral vascular disease.

Despite the known harms of tobacco to heart health and the availability of solutions to reduce related death and disease, knowledge among large sections of the public that tobacco is one of the leading causes of cardiovascular disease is low.”